Addressing a room of Briggs Chaney middle schoolers, 16-year-old pop rocker Vita Chambers took a break from singing about teen crushes to discuss her interest in pediatric neurosurgery. As she tours East Coast schools and radio stations, she said her interest in biology helps keep her driven in case she ever decides to leave music.

The group sat quietly, absorbing her words as they gear up for the Maryland School Assessment test in March. Vita, as she calls herself on stage, stopped by Briggs Chaney Middle School on Jan. 27 to rally the students for the MSA.

"It's something to give them a little fun and down time amid the stress of these tests," said Michael Julian, chair of the school's arts department and the teacher behind Vita's visit. He also said holding pep rallies, concerts and "study under the stars" events keep students motivated on the importance of doing well on the MSA.

"We try to do things that get them focused and thinking about the importance of it," he said. "A lot of times, kids don't understand the importance of these tests and what's going on."

For Briggs Chaney, the MSA is especially important this year, Julian said. Three years ago, the school just barely missed the cut for adequate yearly progress, he said. But for the past two years, they made it. So they need to maintain the momentum fueled by the past two year's success, he said. Overall, math scores rose 8.8 percent and reading scores rose 12.1 percent for all students at the school between 2005 and 2009, said Katherine Estes, the staff development teacher at the school.

Enter Vita, the charismatic young pop star from Barbados, whose catchy songs "Like Boom" and "Young Money" already have the students captivated, despite the fact that her album isn't due out until early March. Vita was discovered by SRP Records, which also signed Bajan pop stars Rihanna and Shontelle, after she posted videos of herself singing on the Internet.

Vita said she hopes her dedication to music, as well as other school subjects, will inspire the students to do their best.

"Regardless of your age or where you come from, who you are, if you work hard, you can do it," she said of her message just minutes before taking the stage. "It just takes some elbow grease and a vision."

Based on her reception by the auditorium full of cheering students, Vita is living her vision. The curly-haired teen hopped on stage, dancing and waving at the crowd as she sung lines like, "I love you and I hate you, hate you but I want you, want you then I need you now." Between songs, she took questions from the crowd, revealing her love of Lady Gaga, Avatar and song-writing.

"I thought it was really good," said Candace Marshall, 13, of Silver Spring, after the concert. "She was really creative and different. She has a different tone to her voice."

"We were really lucky to have her come to our school," agreed Patrick Vigna, 12, of Silver Spring. "We did well on the MSA, so we should keep trying hard."

Julian said attitudes like Vigna's are what the school's administrators strive for. Though many middle schoolers may talk down standardized tests, Briggs Chaney uses events like Vita's concert to make test-taking cool.

"There are not a lot of kids who downplay it or talk bad about it," he said. "They look forward to it and the reward parties. A lot of middle schoolers can be like, Oh, that's not cool,' but I think we've made it cool here."